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Moses
Moses was a son of Amram from the Tribe of Levi. He was born during the time that Pharoh ordered all the baby boys of Israel to be killed. Moses' mother hid him for three months and then set him in a small floating basket made of papyrus and pitch on the Nile River. Pharoh's daughter came down to the river and found Moses. Moses' older sister, who had been watching, came to her and told her she could find a Hebrew woman to nurse him. Pharoh's daughter agreed and Moses' sister brought his mother to take care of him. After a while, Pharoh's daughter adopted him. Moses grew up and one day went out and saw the Hebrews being worked very hard. He saw an Egyptian hit one of them. He became very angry and killed the Egyptian and buried him there. The next day, he went out again and found two Hebrews fighting. He spoke to them, asking them why they were hitting each other. The man said, "Who do you think you are, telling us what to do? Are you going to kill me the way you killed that Egyptian?" Moses realized that people had found out about it. After Pharoh tried to kill him, he fled to the land of Midian. Moses maried Zipporah, one of the seven daughters of the preist of Midian. They had a son, whom Moses named Gershom (Sojourner), for he was a sojourner in a foreign country. Many years later the king of Egypt died. The Israelites cried out under their slavery. Their groans for relief from their hard labor ascended to God. God remembered his covenant with Abraham and his descendants, Isaac and Jacob. While Moses was sheperding the flocks of his father-in-law Jethro, the preist of Midian, he came to Horeb, the mountain of God. The angel of God appeared to him in the flames of fire coming out of the middle of a bush. The bush was covered completely by the fire, but the fire did not burn the bush up. God called out to Moses and said, "Don't come any closer. Remove your sandals from your feet. You're standing on holy ground." Then God said, "I am the God of your father: The God of Abraham, The God of Isaac, the God of Jacob." Then He said, "The Israelite cry for help has come to me, and I've seen how cruelly the Egyptians are treating them. I am sending you to Pharoh to bring my people out of Egypt. Moses doubted God and questioned Him, "What makes you think that I could ever go to Pharoh and lead Israel out of Egypt?" God answered him, "I'll be with you." Then Moses said to God, "What if I go to them and say, 'The God of your fathers sent me', and they say, 'What is his name?' What do I tell them?" God replied to Moses, "Tell the People of Israel, 'I-AM sent me to you.'" Moses objected, saying, "They won't listen to me. God then showed Moses several signs that would prove to the people that God had chosen him. Moses raised a final petition. "God, I don't talk well. I've never been good with words, and I stutter and stammer." God replied, "Who do you think made the human mouth? Isn't it I, God? So, get going. I'll be there with your mouth." Moses said, "Oh, please, Master, send somebody else!" God became angry with Moses: "Don't you have a brother, Aaron? I know he's good with words. He's on his way here to meet you now. He's going to be glad when he sees you. You'll speak to him and tell him what to say. I'll be right there with you. He will act as your mouth, but you will decide what comes out of it." After this, Moses went to his father-in-law Jethro and told him that he needed to return to Egypt to see if his relatives were still alive. Jethro agreed and sent him on his way with his wife and sons. God told Aaron to meet Moses in the wilderness. Moses told him the message that God had sent him to speak. Moses and Aaron proceeded to round up the leaders of Israel. Aaron told them everything that God had told Moses and demonstrated the signs before the people. And the people trusted that God was concerned and they bowed low and worshiped. The Pharoh, however, did not want to let his slave labor go, because God hardened his heart so that He could display His glory. After bringing down nine plagues on the Egyptians (Nile turning into blood, frogs, lice or gnats, flies, livestock dying, boils, hail mixed with fire, locusts, and darkness), God killed all of Egyptian firstborns, animal and human. after this, Pharoh let the Hebrews go. However, God hardened the hearts of Pharoh and his servants and they went with the Egyptian army to recapture the Hebrews. Moses parted the Red Sea for the Israelites to cross, but when the Egyptians tried to cross, the wheels of their chariots got stuck in the mud and the water came down and drowned them. Category:Person